Softball | 4/11/2023 9:43:00 PM
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Box Score 2 EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T softball team has 12 wins this season. Six of them came in April. The Aggies continued to play well on Tuesday as they came away with a doubleheader split against the Campbell Fighting Camels at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex.
Junior second baseman Alyxx Estrada hit a two-run RBI walk-off single in the second game to lead the Aggies to a 2-1 win. It marked the Aggies' second walk-off win in nine days after beating Hofstra in a walk-off on April 2. Campbell won the first game 5-1.
The non-conference split moved the Aggies to 12-27 on the season. Campbell and A&T were Big South Conference foes last season, and both will be Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) members next season. But for now, the Camels are still one of the best teams in the Big South, as they left Tuesday's doubleheader 28-11 overall.
In Game 2, junior right-hander Sharla Kirkpatrick (W, 1-3) had her best outing in the circle as an Aggie. She pitched a complete game, giving up eight hits and only one run while forcing the Camels into 14 groundball outs. Her counterpart, RHP Jaimee Hardy, pitched six scoreless innings, giving up four hits and striking out five.
All of the second game's scoring came in the seventh inning. Campbell took a 1-0 lead in the game's final inning as Hardy helped herself with a leadoff double before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Allyiah Swiney. Then, Delaney McDilda brought home the game's first run with an RBI single to left field.
Campbell kept the threat going as McDilda stole second before the second out was recorded on a flyball out by Lindsey Hunt. Pinch-hitter Mariana Rodriguez reached on an error, which moved pinch runner Erin Rafferty, who came into the game for McDilda, to third. But Kirkpatrick pitched her way out of the inning by getting Alyssa Henault to fly out to left.
After the Aggies escaped any further damage in the seventh, A&T shortstop, Makayla Layton led off the home seventh by getting hit by a pitch from Hardy. Layton, however, was picked off at first base. Campbell then turned to Isabella Smith (L, 18-10) in the circle. Smith started her outing by walking Kiara Richards. Catcher Sierra Baldwin then reached on a fielder's choice to put Aggies on first and second with one out.
A Latianna Langley groundout moved both runners into scoring position, but it left the Camels one out away from a doubleheader sweep. But Estrada stepped into her game-winning role by ripping her two-run single to right field, scoring Richards and Baldwin to win the game.
Estrada went 2-for-4, including her two game-winning RBI. McDilda went 3-for-3, and Hardy went 2-for-3 with a run scored in Game 2 for the Camels.
Smith (W, 18-9) got the winning decision in the first game by pitching a complete-game, five-hitter, where she surrendered only one run and struck out 11 Aggies. A&T received solid pitching performances from starter Megan Ellis (L, 4-3) and RHP Amaya Kearse.
Ellis pitched four innings, giving up six hits and one run and striking out two. Kearse only gave up one earned run on three hits as the Camels scored three unearned runs.
Estrada also led the Aggies in Game 1 by going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Estrada's RBI came in the fifth as Baldwin hit a one-out double to right center. After Langley struck out swinging, Estrada hit a two-out RBI single to center to score Baldwin, cutting the Camels lead to 3-1.
But Campbell added two more runs in the visitor's sixth as Rodriguez scored on an error and Tyra Parker scored Swiney on an RBI sac fly. The Aggies did get a single from Langley in the seventh inning, stealing second and third before Estrada's groundout ended the game.
A&T will travel to Maryland to face the Towson Tigers in a three-game CAA series at Tiger Softball Stadium. The Tigers are 19-17 overall and 9-6 in league play. They have a midweek game against UMBC on Wednesday.
